Researching Industry

Contents

Page Number

Contents 2

Introduction 3

Procedure 4

Market Survey 7

How the Survey is conducted 9

The Survey 9

The Results 9

Survey Conclusions 10

Final Summary 12

Appendices 13

Bibliography 14

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to research a local ward in the Southend-On-Sea area and investigate the enterprise possibilities for a small or medium sized business.

I intend to prove by statistical analysis, sampling from a target population, and by calculated judgments that a particular business will or will not be successful in the chosen area.

I intend to compare an area with regional and national averages to determine the backgrounds of local residents. By exploring the statistical data available for a given ward, I will be able to make sound decisions based on this reliable information. The data collected will tell me the amount of employed and unemployed residents in the area. What type of work the employed residents do and an idea into the financial status of the populace.

Once I have an idea as to who lives in this area, I will be able to choose what business enterprise maybe successful in that area. Then I will analyze economic trends over the past year to see if the business I am proposing is stable. I will then survey the local population to obtain opinions of the enterprise.

After completing this research I will then analyze the data collected and draw provable statistical analysis to the feasibility of the business proposition.

Procedure

The Victoria Ward of Southend-On-Sea Essex, has a below national average of working people. The Census of Population (2001) displayed results stating that 71.6% of all people are in employment. However the Victoria Ward of Southend –On- Sea, only displayed 66.3% of people working. The census also showed that whilst Southend in general has unemployment base similar to the national average of 5.8%, Victoria Ward had a much higher ratio of unemployed people. In fact this figure was declared to be 9.3%.

Victoria

(numbers) Victoria

(%) Southend-on-Sea UA

(%) GB

(%)

All people

Economically active 4,077 73.1 77.1 76.0

In employment 3,696 66.3 72.5 71.6

Employees 3,285 58.9 62.5 62.6

Self employed 411 7.4 10.0 9.0

Unemployed 381 9.3 6.0 5.8

Males

Economically active 2,281 79.8 83.8 81.4

In employment 2,038 71.3 78.0 76.0

Employees 1,701 59.5 62.6 63.1

Self employed 337 11.8 15.5 12.9

Unemployed 243 10.7 6.9 6.5

Females

Economically active 1,796 66.1 70.1 70.3

Employment 1,658 61.0 66.8 66.9

Employees 1,584 58.3 62.4 62.1

Self employed 74 2.7 4.3 4.8

Unemployed 138 7.7 4.8 4.8

Further investigation into these figures show that only 31.5% of the residents are employed in professional or managerial positions. Once again according to the Census of Population (2001), the national figure for this sector of employment is 40%. The same census shows that Southend in general has 40.3% of its employed people working in these positions.

Victoria

(numbers) Victoria

(%) Southend-on-Sea UA

(%) GB

(%)

1 Managers and senior officials 393 10.6 16.0 14.9

2 Professional 264 7.1 9.9 11.2

3 Associate professional & technical 509 13.8 14.4 13.9

A further indication as to the employment placements of the residents in this area is that 13.9% are in ‘Elementary Occupations (EO)’ compared to11.8% nationally.

Victoria

(numbers) Victoria

(%) Southend-on-Sea UA

(%) GB

(%)

8 Process plant and machine operatives 331 9.0 6.6 8.7

9 Elementary occupations 512 13.9 10.1 11.8

A summary of these occupations can be seen in the Standard Occupational Classification 2000 (SOC2000)

. These occupations cover employment that requires little or no formal qualifications.

Out of the residents in this ward, 4% are claiming Job Seekers Allowance. The national average is 2.2%

Victoria

(numbers) Victoria

(%) Southend-on-Sea UA

(%) GB

(%)

All people 222 4.0 2.5 2.2

Males 179 6.2 3.6 3.1

Females 43 1.6 1.3 1.2

What can we conclude from these statistics: -

• The Victoria Ward has a higher than average level of unemployed.

• The Victoria Ward has less than average working people.

• The Victoria